When Chrissy agreed to housesit for her grandparents and prep the place for Christmas, she never imagined the icing on her cookies would be the twins next door. But they are hard-loving men who don’t play for keeps, and she’s never played at all…until now.

Joe and Jess crave their neighbors’ cute granddaughter more than they can stand. She’s definitely a game changer they never imagined, blowing into their lives like the approaching winter storm, stirring up their wildest fantasies and making them want with an intensity hot enough to melt the fake icicles draped around her Grandma’s house.

Christmas with all the trimmings. Those were Grandma’s instructions. And while Chrissy knows she wasn’t referring to Chrissy laid out for Joe and Jess’s pleasure—or they hers—Grandma’s got some explaining of her own to do. Like how she knew about those dimples on the twin’s perfect backsides.

Christmas Candie by Nona Raines

Aidan Callahan loves Christmas. His family makes it a big celebration and he does his best to carry on the tradition. Every ornament on his huge Christmas tree has a story and holds a special memory. He’s been hooking up for six months with Val Stenzler and would like to get closer to her, including sharing his love of Christmas. But aside from their hot sex sessions, she holds him at arm’s length. What’s the problem?

Val hates Christmas. The most devastating, humiliating event of her life happened at Christmastime two years ago, and she’s still trying to get past it. There’s no room for fruitcake or mistletoe in her life. As far as she’s concerned, the holiday season can’t pass quickly enough.

Christmas suddenly becomes a lot more interesting when Val and Aidan meet Candie Hurley. She’s as sweet as her name, as sparkly as tinsel and as mysterious as the Northern Lights. Aidan and Val both fall under her spell, but will the night they spend with her bring them closer together or tear their relationship apart?

Gingerbread Photography by Rachell Nichole

Walker Savidge is one of FDNY’s Finest. He’s also the only openly bisexual fireman in the city. But his boyfriend, Ben Cook, is still very much in the closet, and not comfortable with his own sexual needs and desires. Every time they get close in public, Ben pulls away. Frustrated with his partner, Walker devises a plan to help Ben break out of his shell. The owner of Gingerbread Photography has been photographing the FDNY Firefighters for their calendar for years. She’s professional and sweet, and Walker knows she’ll immediately put Ben at ease. Now all he has to do is convince his lover to do a private x-rated, Xmas photo shoot.

Ben knows Walker is fed up with his hang-ups, but he can’t seem to help it. Every time he thinks he might be okay with announcing to the world that he also likes guys, the horrors of his high school locker room stop him. Growing up in a small community that wasn’t always supportive of homosexuality has forced Ben to hide that half of himself. He’d always dated girls before moving to the Big Apple and finding Walker. Now he’s trying to reconcile the two halves of himself and give Walker what he deserves. So when Walker suggests a photo shoot, Ben agrees, though the idea makes him squirm. He knows the week of Christmas break will be the best time for the shoot. He’s told his parents he won’t be home this year for Christmas, so he doesn’t have to answer awkward questions about his love life, or break Walker’s heart by not inviting him home for the holidays.

Lexie Ginger Rosamond is trying to survive as a NY photographer. But she’s dreading the upcoming holidays and her photo schedule. She’s reluctant to take on a last minute meeting with Walker and his boyfriend, but finally can’t deny the sultry voice of one of the sexiest firemen she’s ever met. But when Walker shows up at her studio with Ben, a young man she’s already met, and kissed, she doesn’t know what to do. As the photo shoot heats up, Walker jumps into the photos with Ben, and it’s almost more than she can bear. Until the two men ask her to join them in front of the camera instead of behind it. Tempted by their heat, and deciding maybe she can give herself a special treat this Christmas, Lexie agrees

From ALL THE TRIMMINGS by Caitlyn Willows

One would think Chrissy Wallace’s attention would be on the giant Santa being hoisted into the sleigh on top of her grandparents’ house, not on the perfectly proportioned, jean-clad backside of the hunky man doing the work. In her defense, standing on the ladder as he was, the man had a damn fine ass to look at-the perfect peach shape a woman could sink her heels into and ride to the finish line. She’d bet he’d dig those long, thick fingers of his deep into her butt and hold her in place while he pounded her into the mattress.

One hand clasped firmly around the steering wheel, she used the other to fan the heat from her face. This was what happened when she hadn’t had sex in nine months. With her grandparents on vacation and her house-sitting for them, what were the odds she could get lucky? An hour away from home with none of the small-town ogling that went with it? It’d be so much easier than looking for a hookup in one of the clubs on Palm Canyon Drive. If he was helping out her grandparents, he’d already been vetted. So…hell yeah, she was going to go for it. Providing he was available, of course.

Please, let him be available. He can be my Christmas present.

Movement on the roof drew her gaze to the man helping him. Another stunning male specimen. These must be “the nice young men who moved in next door” her grandmother had mentioned. Sunglasses guarded his eyes against the setting sun hovering near the peak of San Jacinto. Those rays bathed his tan skin in gold, highlighting the cut of muscle in his biceps and forearms. Nothing like being able to wear a tank top in December. One of the many reasons she loved living in Southern California.

Her heart somersaulted as she watched him haul Santa to safety on the roof. He handled the decoration like it weighed nothing, and she knew for a fact the thing weighed a ton and was awkward as hell. Much as she loved it, Santa and his sleigh had been the bane of her family’s existence for as long as she could remember. A chore to be avoided at all cost, only to be done under duress and pleading from Grandma to put the decoration in place. Someone always caved. With her grandparents heading out for a Baja cruise, everyone thought they’d be spared this year, especially since Chrissy’s parents were going too. Well…they had been spared. Someone else had been pressed into service.

Probably fell prey to Grandma’s charming smile and bright blue eyes. For a woman nearing seventy, Grandma still knew how to work it. Oh, to have a snippet of that power.

The man on the ladder joined his partner on the roof, taking a stance on the other side of Santa. Seeing their matching smiles made her mouth drop open. Twins. Decisions, decisions. Surely one of them was unattached. Maybe both? Oh, the fantasies that wrought.

She snapped her jaw shut and pulled into the driveway next to Pops’s Prius. Grandma waved at her, love beaming from her eyes. Chrissy was embarrassed to admit she hadn’t seen her standing there until that moment. Her attention had been riveted elsewhere. She sneaked a final mouthwatering glance upward, then cut the engine and got out.

“Chrissy!” Grandma hurried her way, arms open.

Chrissy was conscious of the men above, wondering if they were looking, possibly interested. She was tempted to fluff her hair into some semblance of order, check her breath, flash them a smile that broadcasted her need. She hugged Grandma instead.

From CHRISTMAS CANDIE by Nona Raines

Aidan sat in the armchair across from them. His eyes were heavy-lidded, his gaze intense. Silence gathered around the three of them.

BEN SWALLOWED HARD, staring into her green eyes. She was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful. Just like her photos. Bright red curls fell in waves around her face and shoulders, covering the tips of her jacket’s lapels. Her fair skin was pink; from the flush he could feel within him too, or from the cold, he couldn’t be sure. But she’d agreed to let him make it up to her. What the hell are you doing?

He blinked, trying to clear his head. He’d been crying a mere two seconds before they’d slammed into each other, the burn of tears hot against his cold cheeks distracting him from the impending collision. Then they’d slammed into each other and he’d been flattened onto the cold concrete. She was slender, but tall. She couldn’t possibly outweigh him, but they’d struck with such force that he’d surely be bruised. Yeah, that’d be fun to explain to Walker. Walker, who’d let him just run out of the firehouse after Eddie had torn into him.

“How about coffee?” he said, pushing thoughts of Walker from his mind. “Since I kind of kyboshed your other one.”

She looked at the brown snow rapidly melting from the heat of her coffee, and he smiled sheepishly.

“Um, sure,” she said.

After a beat, she said, “I know of this great place around the corner.”

His stomach lurched into his throat. Please, God, not the same place where he’d first met Walker. He couldn’t come up with a good reason to suggest somewhere else. So he silently nodded and then followed her as she led him down the street and around the corner. Sure enough it was the same place. He barely suppressed a groan as they crossed the threshold. They moved through the line quickly, though in the middle of winter the shop was swamped. A small table in the corner vacated, and she marched across the room and claimed two seats as soon as they were empty. Well, then.

He followed and sat across from her. “I’m Ben,” he said, trying to ignore the dark voice in the back of his head that told him being here with her was like cheating. He couldn’t shake the feeling, though he knew it wasn’t logical. Having coffee with a girl didn’t mean he was stepping out on Walker. He’d never do that.

“I’m Lexie,” she said with a smile.

He tensed. He hadn’t been this attracted to a female since Reese. Simply because he was attracted to Lexie didn’t mean he had to act on it.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. Another warm smile crossed her lips as she swallowed. He tried really hard to ignore the way her throat moved as she drank. What would that smooth skin feel like beneath his fingers? Damn it. He shut down that train of thought.

She helped a second later when she asked suddenly, with real concern, “Are you okay? You looked upset when we ran into each other.”

Instantly, guilt flooded him. Yeah, he’d been upset. Which was probably why he couldn’t keep his mind from wandering to naughty thoughts. His life would be so much easier if he could bring Lexie home next month for Christmas. He’d told his parents he couldn’t get out of work. So he wouldn’t have to go home and lie to their faces about his love life. God, he hated that he’d lied to them for so long. But he loved them too much to risk changing their opinions of him when he told them he was bisexual. He wouldn’t let history repeat itself, wouldn’t end up like Jesse had.

“Yeah. I uh, had a fight…with my, um, boyfriend.” Not the whole truth. He’d run away from a fight, actually. But he was too much of a coward to admit that to Lexie.

She shifted in her seat, sighing. Her shoulders relaxed beneath her dark purple sweater, and he could read the relief on her face. She was relieved he’d had a fight? After a second, he wanted to smack himself. No, she was relieved he was gay. Why had he just admitted to a perfect stranger that he had a boyfriend when he couldn’t tell his own sister?

“So you’re a photography student?” he asked, changing the subject.

“I teach it actually.”

He took a second to reassess. She was a professor. At the university where he was a student. Crap. Even if he wasn’t with Walker, he wouldn’t be able to bring this girl home for Christmas. He couldn’t date her publicly any more than he could date Walker out in the open. “Very cool. Those photos were amazing. I’m so sorry I ruined them.”

She reached out and touched his arm. He warmed instantly. “Don’t worry about it. You have to stop apologizing. It wasn’t your fault anyway. I was so pissed; I would have walked straight into a pole without seeing it. It’s no wonder I bashed into you without preamble.”

She didn’t make any move to let go of his arm, and he didn’t encourage one. He’d never let Walker touch him like this in public. Never gaze into his lover’s eyes with such ease. Here, with Lexie, he could let himself show affection without fear of repercussions. Lexie raised her other hand to his chin, turning his head to the side.

“Hold still,” she said.

He froze, and her fingers left him. From the corner of his eye, he watched as she leaned back in her chair and smiled. “Well…” She said, drawing out the word. “There might be one more thing you could do to make it up to me.”

About the Authors

Erotic romance author Caitlyn Willows weaves deep emotions and sizzling sensuality into her action-filled stories. Believing life is to be lived and felt, not merely watched, Willows delivers real-to-life characters in unforgettable tales of love, adventure, and always steamy passion. No one is more surprised than she at the direction life has taken her.

Nona Raines is a former librarian who lives in upstate New York with her many pets. She’s currently working on her next novel between walking the dog and shooing the cats off the laptop. Her erotic romances are published with The Wild Rose Press and Loose Id. Her transgender romance His Kind of Woman was nominated for the 2014 DABWAHA sponsored by the Dear Author and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books review blogs. Her most recent work is the erotic romance novella Read to Me.

Rachell Nichole is a contemporary erotic romance author, who loves writing sexy romances about memorable characters who have to fight to hold on to love.

Rachell holds two undergraduate degrees, one in Professional Writing and the other in French. She also received a Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University. She is the author of The Marietta Hotels Series, Spicy with a Side of Cranberry Sauce, Break(Through) the Ice, To Sir, and Queen of Hearts.

Rachell lives in New York with a mountain of books, a loving family, and an invisible cat who loves to snuggle.